www.auss.org Published by the American Union of Swedish Singers In its 122st year of Performing Svenska Sånger in America Volume CXXII January, 2014 No. 1 Happy New Year to all of our fellow AUSS members and friends! This past Christmas season, The Vi- king Male Chorus and Damkören com- bined to perform a Christmas program for three nursing homes in the James- town, NY area. Our director, Mary Schmidt, put together a wonderful eve- ning of entertainment for our audi- ences. Our final program was on De- cember 13, 2013, at Emeritus of Lake- wood, NY. We also performed at Tan- glewood Manor and the Frewsburg Rest Home. In the first picture, the group is about to begin the Christmas Cantata, Comfort and Joy, by Lloyd Larson. This cantata recounts the nativity story through words and music. Don Nelson was our narrator and Kathy Durnell and Chuck Painter were our soloists. After the cantata, Linda Carlson played a beautiful flute solo, The Holly and the Ivy. That was followed by Ole, the Red- Nosed Viking. For those of you not fa- miliar with this traditional “classic,” it tells the story of Ole and his glögg so strong, that one Christmas Eve, Odin invited him to join him in a song. The other Vikings loved him so, they shouted skål, with glee! Then, Paul Sandstrom led us in truly traditional Swedish Christmas songs Nu är det jul igen, När juldagsmorgon glim- mar, Hosianna, Var hälsad, sköna mor- gonstund and Hej, tomtegubbar! Many of our audience members acknowledged being of Swedish descent. Mary then returned to the podium to direct Samlas nu kring julens träd and Silent Night, with English and Swedish verses. Many thanks go to Mary and our ac- companist, Diane Kling, for all of their hard work preparing us to present this year’s program. After our final program, we gathered at the home of Jim Gardner and Amy Stenta for food, fun, fellowship and glögg. We’ll gather on January 11, 2014 for a more formal evening of holiday celebration and resume rehearsals on January 20 to prepare for our annual Spring Concert. - Amy Stenta, Damkören Christmas Events in Jamestown Above: Mike Yager preparing for the trium- phant return of Ole, the Red-Nosed Viking. Below: Jamestown choruses performing on December 13, 2013 at Emeritus of Lake- wood, NY.
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Volume CXXII January, 2014 No. 1 Christmas Events in …...celebration and resume rehearsals on January 20 to prepare for our annual Spring Concert. - Amy Stenta, Damkören Christmas
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www.auss.org
Published by the American Union of Swedish Singers In its 122st year of Performing Svenska Sånger in America
Volume CXXII January, 2014 No. 1
Happy New Year to all of our fellow
AUSS members and friends!
This past Christmas season, The Vi-
king Male Chorus and Damkören com-
bined to perform a Christmas program
for three nursing homes in the James-
town, NY area. Our director, Mary
Schmidt, put together a wonderful eve-
ning of entertainment for our audi-
ences. Our final program was on De-
cember 13, 2013, at Emeritus of Lake-
wood, NY. We also performed at Tan-
glewood Manor and the Frewsburg Rest
Home.
In the first picture, the group is about
to begin the Christmas Cantata, Comfort
and Joy, by Lloyd Larson. This cantata
recounts the nativity story through words
and music. Don Nelson was our narrator
and Kathy Durnell and Chuck Painter
were our soloists.
After the cantata, Linda Carlson played
a beautiful flute solo, The Holly and the
Ivy. That was followed by Ole, the Red-
Nosed Viking. For those of you not fa-
miliar with this traditional “classic,” it
tells the story of Ole and his glögg so
strong, that one Christmas Eve, Odin
invited him to join him in a song. The
other Vikings loved him so, they shouted
skål, with glee!
Then, Paul Sandstrom led us in truly
traditional Swedish Christmas songs Nu
är det jul igen, När juldagsmorgon glim-
mar, Hosianna, Var hälsad, sköna mor-
gonstund and Hej, tomtegubbar! Many
of our audience members acknowledged
being of Swedish descent. Mary then
returned to the podium to direct Samlas
nu kring julens träd and Silent Night,
with English and Swedish verses.
Many thanks go to Mary and our ac-
companist, Diane Kling, for all of their
hard work preparing us to present this
year’s program.
After our final program, we gathered at
the home of Jim Gardner and Amy
Stenta for food, fun, fellowship and
glögg. We’ll gather on January 11, 2014
for a more formal evening of holiday
celebration and resume rehearsals on
January 20 to prepare for our annual
Spring Concert.
- Amy Stenta, Damkören
Christmas Events in Jamestown
Above: Mike Yager preparing for the trium-phant return of Ole, the Red-Nosed Viking.
Below: Jamestown choruses performing on December 13, 2013 at Emeritus of Lake-
wood, NY.
January 2014 MUSIKTIDNING page 2 of 7
OFFICIAL JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN UNION OF SWEDISH SINGERS
(Organized November 24, 1892)
A Musical Journal in English and Swedish
"To teach, cultivate and promote Chorus singing, principally Swedish."
Here it is… January 1, 2014! How exciting! We have a
brand new year… full of opportunities. How are you as a
chorus going to approach it? Optimistically is the word I
would like to hear.
I know it is sometimes hard to be optimistic. I have heard
comments that we are getting older, it’s hard to get people to
commit to regular practice, the chorus is shrinking, and the list
goes on. Don’t give up! Portland was there just a few years
ago. There were about 5 men in the men’s group, and the
women’s group though larger was basically “treading wa-
ter.” Our women’s director said he had other commitments
on Monday nights, and our loyal men’s director needed a
break from the responsibilities of the choir. That’s when we
decided to make a change and sing as
a mixed group, and although we
maintained our women and men’s
chorus identities, we shared the ex-
penses of the director, accompanist,
and facility rent. We offered the po-
sition to Vance Sele, knowing his
musical abilities, love of Scandina-
vian music, and of people in gen-
eral. It was the best move we could
have made. Warm-ups are like a
semi-private voice lesson, improving
breathing, vowel sounds, rhythm, the list goes on. He also
sneaks in some sight reading, but makes it fun so we don’t
feel we are back in a classroom. Our “sound” as a musical
group has dramatically improved, and people now want to be
part of our group. We have an average of 50 regular singers
at practice now, and we are still growing.
One of the key reasons we are growing is that we are sing-
ing all our songs in language. We found that young people
did not seem interested in singing show tunes with an inter-
generational group. Twelve of our new members were native
speakers who came specifically because we sang in Scandina-
vian languages exclusively. At least four other new members,
(not native speakers) came for the same reason. I have to say,
many of us doubted Vance’s wisdom choosing all Scandina-
vian language songs. Several went to him individually with
concerns. He always listened, and said, “Give it a
chance.” We did and the result is wonderful. The native
speakers are telling their friends, and we continue to
grow. For the first time that I can remember, during our bak-
ing marathon, Swedish was spoken as much as English. I
loved it!
Growth can happen to every chorus, we are not the excep-
Continued on page 6
January 2014 MUSIKTIDNING page 3 of 7
Seated one day by my chainsaw, I was
weary and ill at ease, and my fingers
wandered idly over my splintered knees.
I knew not where the wood was, undeliv-
ered and very late, but I heard a truck in
the driveway, so I called out to my mate.
(Apologies to the composer of The Lost
Chord, a great old male chorus standard.)
Up here in the north woods, everyone
in the Nordic Harmoni Chorus either has
a wood burning stove or a new pellet
stove. The Johnsons, Sven and Carol,
have given up felling trees, so they buy
their cord wood. It is a bit too much
hard work to wheelbarrow and stack the
dumped wood, so we rounded up a crew
of singers and spouses, and soon the
wood was stacked and under cover. The
Johnsons were happy and we felt good
about helping.
The Chorus concluded the season with
a Sankta Lucia concert at the Weston
The Lost Cord
With wood for the Johnsons are (left to right): Dale Malekoff, Mike Malekoff, Bill Ellio, Bill Lynch, Tom Houston, Carol Johnson, Sven Johnson, Joel Kuhlberg, Carl-Erik Westberg,
Sherrie Rice, and Bob Rice. Photo: Marijke Westberg.
The Scandinavian Women’s Chorus of
Rhode Island finished the Christmas sea-
son by performing for the Norwegians.
The Sons of Norway asked us to sing at
their annual meeting at the Scandinavian
Living Center in Newton, Massachusetts
on January 5, 2014.
For the occasion, we included two Nor-
wegian Christmas songs: Ett barn er født
i Betlehem and Du grønne glitrende tre.
English songs performed during the
thirty minute presentation included The
Snow Lay on the Ground, Do You Hear
What I Hear?, and the pretty Christmas
Lullaby. Some well-known Christmas
carols were also included.
Hosianna, Julvisa, Lyssna Lyssna, Låt
mig få tända ett ljus, När juldagsmorgon
glimmar, and Juletid, Julefrid were
among the Swedish selections.
Next, we will prepare for the spring
concert.
- Astrid S. Drew, SWCRI
Members of the Scandinavian Women’s Chorus of RI are (left to right): Seated: June House and Astrid M. Drew. Standing: Jessica Stensrud, Astrid S. Drew, director Stephen Moye,
Lee-Ann Hurtubise, and Ann-Kristine Zaikowsky. Missing from the picture is Barbara Lundgren.
Rhode Island Chorus Sings for Norwegians
Congregational Church on December
4th. A full house, a poised and attractive
Lucia, and a good selection of songs
made for very successful event. We
were part of a town-wide Christmas fes-
tival sponsored by the Vermont Country
Store. A party after the concert at singer
Jeri Gerold's house, two doors away,
made for a perfect day.
We start up again the first week of
May. And, now, to play in the snow!
- Carl-Erik Westberg, Väst Jämtland, VT
January 2014 MUSIKTIDNING page 4 of 7
Sele Siblings Win CHF Scholarships This is the first time ever
that siblings have been
awarded the AUSS Cultural
Heritage Foundation’s Seth
and Gloria Hokanson Music
Scholarships. Sean Sele, a
freshman, and his sister,
Kyla, a sophomore, both at-
tend Taylor University in
Indiana. These deserving
young adults are extremely
talented, yet humble. They
have spent the last few sum-
mers as volunteers at Trout
Creek Bible camp, giving
back to a camp they attended
as children. They are schol-
ars as well as talented musi-
cians.
Sean’s musical accomplish-
ments in high school have
been numerous. Although he
has won many awards in solo
Bass competitions and has
had the lead in several large
musicals produced by his
high school, he is focused on
what he can give back.
When asked about his musi-
cal goals, Sean writes:
“At the moment, I can
foresee my musical career
manifesting itself in several
different ways. Ideally, it
would be thrilling to be a
performer on Broadway. ...
Not only have I participated
in musical theater produc-
tions since I was little, but
have immersed myself in the
talents required to be success-
ful in the art of musical thea-
ter since.
“However, I also have en-
joyed many forays into the
opera and classical music
world. I have been blessed
with high quality voice teach-
ers, such as Dr. Scott Tuomi,
and have experienced success
in competition as a solo clas-
sical singer. … I will con-
tinue to develop my classical
voice over the rest of my col-
lege years and beyond, both
gaining excellence and possi-
bly a career.
“Another strong interest of
mine is choral singing. I
have been exposed to choral
music since I was born, at-
tending my father’s concerts
and listening to it at home.
Having joined the Pacific
Youth Choir at seven years
old, my experiences in con-
cert choirs, chamber choirs,
and accapella, from barber-
shop to modern, have given
me an appreciation of the
paradoxical co-existence of
both individuality and self-
lessness that is necessary to
produce quality music in a
group. The symbolism of
this coexistence is a beautiful
representation of the way we
were meant to live as hu-
mans. The importance of
community choirs such as the
Scandinavian chorus cannot
be emphasized enough. One
of the values to striving to
reach my vocal potential is so
that as an adult in community
choir I will be able to use my
individual talent to contribute
to the group.”
Besides vocal talent, Sean
also plays guitar, jazz piano,
trumpet, and bagpipes.
“Whatever skill constitutes
my future vocation, I know
that all of these abilities and
blessings will have a special
place in my life as I continue
to develop and improve. My
primary musical goal is to
utilize the talents I have, im-
prove them, and then use
them in a way that is honor-
ing and giving. As I did
nothing to earn that with
which I was lucky enough to
be born, and exposed to, I
consider nothing more appro-
priate than to, in turn, give of
myself and my music freely.
In order to do this with
honor, I must first improve
my gift so that what I give is
even greater than what I re-
ceived.”
Kyla Sele was a double
major last year as a freshman,
and as a music major, re-
ceived an AUSS CHF Music
Scholarship (see February
2012 Musiktidning). As a
sophomore, she has declared
music as a minor. (I’m sure
with a double major, music,
with all its practice and lab
requirements, was a huge
demand on her time.)
When asked about her mu-
sical endeavors, Kyla writes,
“Music has always been one
of my passions. Although I
am no longer majoring in
music, I know that music is
something I want to be in-
volved in for the rest of my
life. Right now, I am not
entirely sure what I will be
doing when I graduate. … I
definitely seek to be in a
choir whether that be through
the community or through a
church.
“I am earning a Music Mi-
nor, which will allow me to
put my musical knowledge to
use wherever it’s needed.
This fall, I discovered my
love for conducting through
the first semester of the class.
This spring, I’m excited to be
continuing with the class so
that I can learn even more
and put my conducting to
practice with the Taylor Or-
chestra and Chorale. I don’t
know exactly where my mu-
sic will take me, but I’m ex-
cited to find opportunities to
be involved in it in the fu-
ture.”
Last year Kyla wrote: “I
know music will always be
part of my life, because I
believe in its power to affect
performers and audience
members alike. … Through
music, we can express what
we can’t convey in words. …
Music has a great power to
speak to people. It provokes
joy, tears, and humor, but
most importantly it gives us
hope.”
Sean and Kyla have Norwe-
gian and Icelandic heritage.
They attend Portland Scandi-
navian Chorus concerts
whenever they are home from
school. These talented sib-
lings’ father is Vance Sele,
the Portland men’s and
women’s choir director. He
will also be an Assistant Di-
rector-in-Chief at the 2016
National Convention.
- Alana Mapes, Scholarship
Committee Kyla Sele
Sean Sele
January 2014 MUSIKTIDNING page 5 of 7
December proved to be a busy, but
enjoyable month for all of us.
December 4th was our annual sing for
the residents of the Salvation Army
Home in Waukegan. This year, both the
men’s and the women’s choruses
sang. As always, it was a pleasure to
perform for this group.
Julmiddag was held at the Chevy
Chase Country Club in Wheeling, IL on
a cold and snowy December 8th. The
Chicago Swedish Male Chorus
joined Waukegan's mixed chorus for a
delightful afternoon of Swedish mu-
sic. After the concert, family and
friends feasted on a delicious smörgås-
bord. Poinsettia plants decorated the
tables and banquet hall. One person
from each table was able to take a poin-
settia plant home with them.
The annual Christmas Party was De-
cember 14th at the American Legion
Hall in Lake Forest, IL. We did a lot of
decorating for a party that lasted just
several hours - a tree, wall decorations,
along with table decorations. Gunnel
Lundquist made the Glögg. We had
smoked salmon on our smörgåsbord ta-
ble in addition to good food prepared by
members of the Glee Club, plus egg nog
and a delightful sweets table with rice
pudding. After singing of carols, we
had a grab bag gift exchange. Everyone
had a chance to socialize and have a
good time.
All of us are looking forward
Waukegan’s Busy Christmas Season
January 13 is Tjugondedag Knut
(twentieth day Knut), the traditional end
of the Christmas season in Sweden.
Everyone dances around the Christmas
tree one last time, plunders it of its re-
maining candy and goodies (julgrans-
plundring), and tosses the tree out the
door. Besides doing the usual ring
dances and songs, they sing “Nu är glada
julen slut, slut, slut.”
Nu är glada julen slut, slut, slut Nu är glada julen slut, slut, slut
julegranen kastas ut, ut, ut
men till nästa år igen
kommer han vår gamle vän
för det har han lovat.
Now is Merry Christmas done, done, done
Christmas tree is thrown out, out, out
but the next year again
he comes our old friend
for he has promised.
to the New Year of singing and the up-
coming convention. - Pat Minkler, Swedish Glee Club—
Waukegan
January 2014 MUSIKTIDNING page 6 of 7
The Seattle Swedish Women’s Chorus and SVEA Male Chorus sing at the Norse Retirement Home on December 17.
The Swedish Women’s Chorus and
SVEA Male Chorus performed at the
Norse Retirement Home on December
17, ending the program with a party. It
was fun and relaxing to socialize with
each other while sampling the products
of our great bakers. The residents enjoy
our performance each year and it is
heartening to observe the residents smil-
ing as they hum along to old favorites.
The Philadelphia Church, a Norwegian
church in Ballard, invited us to perform
in Swedish at their Jultrefest. With some
trepidation, we arrived at the Norwegian
bastion to be received with warmth and
appreciation. They also provided us with
great food!
Our president, Marta Schee, is hard at
work organizing a program for the
spring. The program will include several
Scandinavian choirs. We did this last
year and it was very successful. This
year, Marta is extending an invitation to
other northern European ethnic choirs to
participate. There will be lots of joyful
singing! Stay tuned for information
about this program.
We resume rehearsals in mid-January.
- Mary Hillman, Secretary, Swedish
Women’s Chorus
December with the Seattle Choruses
tion. Nordic Harmony has experienced a
very similar pattern. I am sure their di-
rector, Ken Olsson, has had a lot to do
with that. Working with Ken at the last
convention in New Haven was delight-
ful. He is a talented musician, friendly,
and knowledgeable. He is devoted to
making a group sound better, his direct-
ing techniques demonstrated that.
If you find your chorus needs a “shot
of optimism,” ask yourselves if a change
would make things better. Change is not
a bad thing. Several AUSS choruses
have merged, or become a mixed
group. If there is another group declin-
ing in membership located near, maybe
these groups could merge. Together they
could hire a talented director who would
love to “grow” a Scandinavian cho-
rus. As the group grows, so will the
quality of their music. It could be a win/
win situation. Small groups located far-
ther apart could practice the same songs
locally on a weekly basis with a member
of their group who could assume the
leadership role, then once a month they
could get together with the music profes-
sional, (paid director) who could have an
afternoon workshop.
I don’t want to offend any small
groups—there is nothing wrong with a
chorus of a few talented individuals. My
suggestions are for choruses that have
voiced concern about their numbers. My
advice is: “Don’t give up.” Remain opti-
mistic, make a joyful noise, and sing!
If you can, go to the Central Division
Convention (read about it in the Musik-
tidning). Even if your chorus does not
go, get the music and join the group
practicing for the Grand Concert. You
will be welcomed, and have a wonderful
time.
- Alana
President’s... Continued from page 2
Auld Lang Syne is a Scots poem writ-
ten by Robert Burns in 1788 and set to
the tune of a traditional folk song, proba-
bly originally in a sprightly dance tempo.
The song’s Scots title may be trans-
lated into English literally as “old long
since,” or more idiomatically, “long long
ago” or “old times.” Consequently, “For
auld lang syne” might be translated as
“for (the sake of) old times.”
Burns’ original Scots verse:
Should auld acquaintance be forgot,
and never brought to mind?
Should auld acquaintance be forgot,
and auld lang syne?
CHORUS:
For auld lang syne, my jo,
for auld lang syne,
we’ll tak a cup o’ kindness yet,
for auld lang syne.
- from Wikipedia
For Auld Lang Syne
January 2014 MUSIKTIDNING page 7 of 7
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